New-wave Hawaiian shirts

Whether
you prefer hibiscus or heliotrope, the most masculine
way to flaunt some florals this summer is undoubtedly
via the Hawaiian-shirt comeback, spearheaded by Versace, Gucci et al.

The garments themselves are more correctly known as "aloha"
shirts: the Hawaiian word for "peace" that is now more
commonly used to mean "hello". They were popularised in
the Thirties by designer Ellery Chun in Waikiki - one
story being he made them to use up a job lot of
kimonos. Tourists and surfers descended on his shop and
the rest is history.

The shirts' global appeal was guaranteed when Elvis Presley
wore a red number designed by Alfred Shaheen on the cover
of 1961 album Blue Hawaii. More recently, the
shirt has won exponents such as George Clooney in The Descendants, and, indeed,
our "model" Jack Fox, star of fêted TV show Fresh Meat. "I would never wear a
Hawaiian shirt in bed, at a funeral, or a wedding,"
says Fox. "Just everywhere else." And if the look
is good enough for those guys, it's good enough for
us.